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I am currently setting up a boilerplate with React, Typescript, styled components, webpack etc. and I am getting an error when trying to run eslint:

Error: Must use import to load ES Module

Here is a more verbose version of the error:

/Users/ben/Desktop/development projects/react-boilerplate-styled-context/src/api/api.ts
  0:0  error  Parsing error: Must use import to load ES Module: /Users/ben/Desktop/development projects/react-boilerplate-styled-context/node_modules/eslint/node_modules/eslint-scope/lib/definition.js
require() of ES modules is not supported.
require() of /Users/ben/Desktop/development projects/react-boilerplate-styled-context/node_modules/eslint/node_modules/eslint-scope/lib/definition.js from /Users/ben/Desktop/development projects/react-boilerplate-styled-context/node_modules/babel-eslint/lib/require-from-eslint.js is an ES module file as it is a .js file whose nearest parent package.json contains "type": "module" which defines all .js files in that package scope as ES modules.
Instead rename definition.js to end in .cjs, change the requiring code to use import(), or remove "type": "module" from /Users/ben/Desktop/development projects/react-boilerplate-styled-context/node_modules/eslint/node_modules/eslint-scope/package.json

The error occurs in every single one of my .js and .ts/ .tsx files where I only use import or the file doesn't even have an import at all. I understand what the error is saying but I have no idea why it is being thrown when in fact I only use imports or even no imports at all in some files.

Here is my package.json where I trigger the linter from using npm run lint:eslint:quiet:

{
  "name": "my-react-boilerplate",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.tsx",
  "directories": {
    "test": "test"
  },
  "engines": {
    "node": ">=14.0.0"
  },
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "build": "webpack --config webpack.prod.js",
    "dev": "webpack serve --config webpack.dev.js",
    "lint": "npm run typecheck && npm run lint:css && npm run lint:eslint:quiet",
    "lint:css": "stylelint './src/**/*.{js,ts,tsx}'",
    "lint:eslint:quiet": "eslint --ext .ts,.tsx,.js,.jsx  ./src --no-error-on-unmatched-pattern --quiet",
    "lint:eslint": "eslint --ext .ts,.tsx,.js,.jsx  ./src --no-error-on-unmatched-pattern",
    "lint:eslint:fix": "eslint --ext .ts,.tsx,.js,.jsx  ./src --no-error-on-unmatched-pattern --quiet --fix",
    "test": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test jest --coverage",
    "test:watch": "cross-env NODE_ENV=test jest --watchAll",
    "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit",
    "precommit": "npm run lint"
  },
  "lint-staged": {
    "*.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}": [
      "npm run lint:eslint:fix",
      "git add --force"
    ],
    "*.{md,json}": [
      "prettier --write",
      "git add --force"
    ]
  },
  "husky": {
    "hooks": {
      "pre-commit": "npx lint-staged && npm run typecheck"
    }
  },
  "resolutions": {
    "styled-components": "^5"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "devDependencies": {
    "@babel/core": "^7.5.4",
    "@babel/plugin-proposal-class-properties": "^7.5.0",
    "@babel/preset-env": "^7.5.4",
    "@babel/preset-react": "^7.0.0",
    "@types/history": "^4.7.6",
    "@types/react": "^17.0.29",
    "@types/react-dom": "^17.0.9",
    "@types/react-router": "^5.1.17",
    "@types/react-router-dom": "^5.1.5",
    "@types/styled-components": "^5.1.15",
    "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^5.0.0",
    "babel-cli": "^6.26.0",
    "babel-eslint": "^10.0.2",
    "babel-loader": "^8.0.0-beta.6",
    "babel-polyfill": "^6.26.0",
    "babel-preset-env": "^1.7.0",
    "babel-preset-react": "^6.24.1",
    "babel-preset-stage-2": "^6.24.1",
    "clean-webpack-plugin": "^4.0.0",
    "dotenv-webpack": "^7.0.3",
    "error-overlay-webpack-plugin": "^1.0.0",
    "eslint": "^8.0.0",
    "eslint-config-airbnb": "^18.2.0",
    "eslint-config-prettier": "^8.3.0",
    "eslint-config-with-prettier": "^6.0.0",
    "eslint-plugin-compat": "^3.3.0",
    "eslint-plugin-import": "^2.25.2",
    "eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y": "^6.2.3",
    "eslint-plugin-prettier": "^4.0.0",
    "eslint-plugin-react": "^7.14.2",
    "eslint-plugin-react-hooks": "^4.2.0",
    "extract-text-webpack-plugin": "^3.0.2",
    "file-loader": "^6.2.0",
    "html-webpack-plugin": "^5.3.2",
    "husky": "^7.0.2",
    "prettier": "^2.4.1",
    "raw-loader": "^4.0.2",
    "style-loader": "^3.3.0",
    "stylelint": "^13.13.1",
    "stylelint-config-recommended": "^5.0.0",
    "stylelint-config-styled-components": "^0.1.1",
    "stylelint-processor-styled-components": "^1.10.0",
    "ts-loader": "^9.2.6",
    "tslint": "^6.1.3",
    "typescript": "^4.4.4",
    "url-loader": "^4.1.1",
    "webpack": "^5.58.2",
    "webpack-cli": "^4.2.0",
    "webpack-dev-server": "^4.3.1",
    "webpack-merge": "^5.3.0"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "history": "^4.10.0",
    "process": "^0.11.10",
    "react": "^17.0.1",
    "react-dom": "^17.0.1",
    "react-router-dom": "^5.2.0",
    "styled-components": "^5.2.1"
  }
}

Here is my .eslintrc file:

{
  "extends": ["airbnb", "prettier"],
  "parser": "babel-eslint",
  "plugins": ["prettier", "@typescript-eslint"],
  "parserOptions": {
    "ecmaVersion": 8,
    "ecmaFeatures": {
      "experimentalObjectRestSpread": true,
      "impliedStrict": true,
      "classes": true
    }
  },
  "env": {
    "browser": true,
    "node": true,
    "jest": true
  },
  "rules": {
    "arrow-body-style": ["error", "as-needed"],
    "class-methods-use-this": 0,
    "react/jsx-filename-extension": 0,
    "global-require": 0,
    "react/destructuring-assignment": 0,
    "import/named": 2,
    "linebreak-style": 0,
    "import/no-dynamic-require": 0,
    "import/no-named-as-default": 0,
    "import/no-unresolved": 2,
    "import/prefer-default-export": 0,
    "semi": [2, "always"],
    "max-len": [
      "error",
      {
        "code": 80,
        "ignoreUrls": true,
        "ignoreComments": true,
        "ignoreStrings": true,
        "ignoreTemplateLiterals": true
      }
    ],
    "new-cap": [
      2,
      {
        "capIsNew": false,
        "newIsCap": true
      }
    ],
    "no-param-reassign": 0,
    "no-shadow": 0,
    "no-tabs": 2,
    "no-underscore-dangle": 0,
    "react/forbid-prop-types": [
      "error",
      {
        "forbid": ["any"]
      }
    ],
    "import/no-extraneous-dependencies": ["error", { "devDependencies": true }],
    "react/jsx-no-bind": [
      "error",
      {
        "ignoreRefs": true,
        "allowArrowFunctions": true,
        "allowBind": false
      }
    ],
    "react/no-unknown-property": [
      2,
      {
        "ignore": ["itemscope", "itemtype", "itemprop"]
      }
    ]
  }
}

And i'm not sure if relevant but also my tsconfig.eslint.json file:

{
  "extends": "./tsconfig.json",
  "include": ["./src/**/*.ts", "./src/**/*.tsx", "./src/**/*.js"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules/**", "build/**", "coverage/**"]
}

Not sure if anyone has come across this before? Googling the error does not present any useful forums or raised bugs, most of them just state not to use require in your files which I am not.

Christopher Peisert
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red house 87
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4 Answers4

288

I think the problem is that you are trying to use the deprecated babel-eslint parser, last updated a year ago, which looks like it doesn't support ES6 modules. Updating to the latest parser seems to work, at least for simple linting.

So, do this:

  • In package.json, update the line "babel-eslint": "^10.0.2", to "@babel/eslint-parser": "^7.5.4",. This works with the code above but it may be better to use the latest version, which at the time of writing is 7.16.3.
  • Run npm i from a terminal/command prompt in the folder
  • In .eslintrc, update the parser line "parser": "babel-eslint", to "parser": "@babel/eslint-parser",
  • In .eslintrc, add "requireConfigFile": false, to the parserOptions section (underneath "ecmaVersion": 8,) (I needed this or babel was looking for config files I don't have)
  • Run the command to lint a file

Then, for me with just your two configuration files, the error goes away and I get appropriate linting errors.

Rich N
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    I have the same problem, where can I find the .eslintrc file? – Lara M. Oct 14 '21 at 07:48
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    It's normally in the same folder as package.json. However, it may be elsewhere. From the command line it can be specified, or eslint will look in the folder of the file your are linting or any parent folder. If you're using a framework or an IDE plugin it may be elsewhere too! It also doesn't have to be called .eslintrc: [there are several options for other names and formats](https://eslint.org/docs/user-guide/configuring/configuration-files#configuration-file-formats), including putting the config in package.json itself. In short, it would help everyone if this were a bit simpler. – Rich N Oct 14 '21 at 09:29
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    Unfortunately, this does not work for me. Does anyone was successful using this solution? – DavidH Jan 05 '22 at 16:55
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    Yes @DavidH - It worked for me. Try restarting the code editor to reflect the changes, or try deleting `node_modules` folder and do a fresh npm install. It should work. – Pratik149 Jan 18 '22 at 00:35
  • Can't find `requireConfigFile` in [parserOptions docs](https://eslint.org/docs/user-guide/configuring/language-options#specifying-parser-options) – vsync Mar 15 '22 at 08:57
  • @vsync It's a parser configuration option specific to the @babel/eslint-parser. There is some [documentation on the parser Github site](https://github.com/babel/babel/tree/main/eslint/babel-eslint-parser#additional-parser-configuration). – Rich N Mar 15 '22 at 16:16
1

This can happen with quite a lot of lately released frameworks like VueJS or Nuxt, mostly because of the usage of ESM modules (not fully or at all supported by older Node.js versions).

The fastest approach for this is to use something like nvm, after installing it, you could run:

  • nvm i 16 (v16 is the latest LTS as of time of writing)
  • nvm use 16

And you'll be running the project with a full ESM support.
You can double check that by running node -v.

kissu
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    On Windows I used `nvm-setup.exe` https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows/releases and had to run `nvm install 16` rather than `nvm i 16` which didn't seem to work. – SharpC May 25 '22 at 10:17
0

In Visual studio code, Remove Eslint Extension, and install again.

Mauricio Henrique
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"@babel/eslint-parser" depends on "@babel/core". So after "npm install @babel/eslint-parser -S", u should npm i @babel/core -S

D.H.Lolo
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